Locking and regulation device for panels and slabs

ABSTRACT

A locking and regulation device for preferably made of glass panels and slabs ( 12 ) comprises a U-shaped extruded profile ( 10 ), inferiorly fixed, via locking means ( 11 ), to a reference surface ( 15 ) and which houses, within the central seat ( 14 ) of the U, at least one of said panels or slabs ( 12 ); wherein within said central seat ( 14 ), between the plate ( 12 ) and the extruded profile ( 10 ), is inserted at least a shaped sleeve ( 13 ), which is tapered at the upper end of said seat ( 14 ) which is flanked by and in contact with said panel ( 12 ). In particular, between the tapered portion ( 13 A,  13 B) of said sleeve ( 13 ) and at least one inner wall of said extruded profile ( 10 ), is inserted a wedge ( 16 ), fixed to a respective adjusting screw ( 17 ) arranged in a direction perpendicular to said reference surface ( 15 ) and passing through the wedge ( 16 ) and the sleeve ( 13 ).

The present invention relates to a device for locking and regulation panels or slabs for the realization of balustrades, railings, handrails or other fence elements.

More particularly, the invention relates to a device for locking and regulation panels or flat sheets of glass, which are adjacent to one another and achieve a fence structure.

For the connection of structural panels or glass plates in building structures, such as for example slabs or reinforced concrete floors that need railings, it is known to use metal sections (made of steel or aluminum), which are fixed to the building structure and that hold the panels in correspondence of an edge by fastening means, such as bolts or screws, which engage in holes formed on the section.

Other known solutions are that that provide for a gripping system realized by wedges, made of a resilient and/or yielding material, which are inserted into the metal section.

However, if, on the one hand, providing for the holes imply working phases which impact negatively on the production and installation costs of the products, on the other hand, the gripping systems using wedges are scarcely reliable, because the contact surface of the glass sheet and the locking wedge is very little, because the flat contact surfaces of the glass and the wedge are offset, compromising the holding force of the locking and perpendicularity of the plate, especially at the upper end of the latter, which is relatively distant from the portion of the glass engaged by the locking means.

Furthermore, it is also to consider the fact that, although the request is of glass sheets of more and more wide size, it is desirable that the metal support sections be of thinner and of less visible as possible, in order not to have a negative impact on the aesthetic continuity of the installations.

This requirement determines, on the other hand, a lower reliability of the locking device and, in particular, limits the possibility to adjust the inclination of the plates installed and maintain over time the desired position.

The task of the present invention is therefore to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above and, in particular, that of providing for a device for locking and regulation panels or slabs, that is adaptable to the inclination angle of the two faces of the panel or of the slab, in order to adjust in a simple and fast way the inclination of the plate with respect to the respective fixing section beam.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a device for locking and regulation panels or sheets, which guarantees an effective grip in correspondence of the locking means of the plate and then secure the retention of each plate.

A further aim of the present invention is to provide a device for locking and regulation panels or sheets, which is relatively simple to install and which can be applied to any type of panel or slabs, also preserving the aesthetic continuity of installations made with more plates glass adjacent to one another.

This task, along with these and other aims are achieved by a device for locking and regulation panels or slabs according to the appended claim 1, while other detail technical features of the locking and regulation device, which is the object of the invention, are given in the dependent claims.

Advantageously, the locking and regulation device for panels or slabs, in particular made of glass, according to the present invention, results to be of small size and is adapted to perform an effective locking, safe and of high aesthetic value.

Furthermore, the device according to the invention is easily adaptable to the inclination angle of the two faces of the panel, in order to obtain a perfect perpendicularity of each panel with respect to the mounting surface, as well as a total co-planarity of the panels between them, in case where the same are installed in a grid and used for the realization of balustrades, railings, banisters and fences or similar structures.

Further tasks and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description, relating to a preferred not limiting embodiment of the locking and regulation device, according to the invention, as well as from the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a first schematic view and partially in section of a first embodiment of the locking device and regulation of panels or sheets, according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a further schematic view and partially in section of the embodiment of FIG. 1 of the locking device and regulation of panels or sheets, according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view and partial and partially in section of a second embodiment of the locking device and regulation of panels or sheets, according to the present invention.

With reference to the above mentioned figures, with the reference number 10 is globally identified a U-shaped extruded profile, which at its bottom is fixed by locking means 11 to a reference surface 15, such as a ceiling and/or a floor, and which is adapted to house a panel 12, preferably made of glass, for the realization of balustrades, railings and fence structures in general.

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, which is illustrated in detail in attached FIGS. 1 and 2, in a central seat 14 formed in the shaped profile 10, is inserted a sleeve 13, which is U-shaped and positioned almost completely inside the seat 14 in correspondence of the lower portions thereof and which is tapered towards the top in correspondence with an upper portion of said seat 14, so as to constitute the upper portions 13A, 13B which are placed side by side and in contact with the plate 12.

The sleeve 13 is preferably made of resilient and/or flexible material, the shaped profile 10 being preferably made of steel and/or aluminum.

Still according to the embodiment illustrated in attached FIGS. 1 and 2, between the tapered portions 13A and 13B of the sleeve 13 and the inner walls of the shaped profile 10 are inserted two corresponding shaped wedges 16, preferably made of resilient and/or yielding material, which are constrained to their respective adjustment screws 17.

In particular, the adjusting screws 17 are arranged in a direction which is perpendicular to the surface 15 and they pass through the corresponding wedges 16, in such a way that:

-   -   the upper portion of each screw 17 is constrained to the         corresponding wedge 16,     -   the median portion of the said screw 17 passes through the seat         14 and     -   the lower portion of the screw 17 is fastened, by means of         suitable fastening nuts 18, within the lower portion of the         sleeve 13.

The upper portion of each screw 17 is constrained to the respective wedge 16 by means of a circular abutment 19, which fits into a suitable seat or recess 20 of the sleeve 16, while on the head 21 of each screw 17 is provided a seat for the regulation of the latter from the outside; furthermore, by incorporating the head 21 of each screw 17 within the wedge 16 it is also possible to avoid providing the abutment 19 for anchoring the screw 17 the wedge 16.

Thus, the sleeve 13 keeps the plate 12 in a vertical position, while the presence of the opposing blocks constituted by the respective wedges 16 and the lower portions of the sleeve 13 allow to regulate, with ease and precision, the inclination of the plate 12 with respect to the vertical axis K and the extruded profile 10.

Specifically, turning the head 21 of each screw 17 (by means of a specific tool, which can be inserted from the outside of the extruded profile 10 in the upper seat of the head 21), it causes a displacement in the vertical direction of the corresponding wedge 16, whose diagonal wall is thus forced to slide on the respective diagonal wall of the tapered portion 13A, 13B of the sleeve 13 (as shown in detail in attached FIG. 1); in such a way, it is possible to adjust the inclination of the plate 12 accurately and easily, by acting on bith sides of the said plate 12, as the vertical movement of the wedge 16, which causes the sliding of the wedge 16 on the tapered wall of the sleeve 13, determines the desired displacement of the plate 12 from one side or the other, in order to obtain the desired inclination. Regulating each screw 17 from the above, makes it more simple and effective to operate compared to the known art, as such vertical excursion, which can be achieved simply by inserting a tool in the extruded profile 10 from above, determines a horizontal thrust, namely in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the plate 12, controlled and adapted to realize a high efficiency lock, considered that the point of application of this force is relatively far from the fulcrum (the lower base) for moving the plate 12.

In an alternative embodiments of the invention, the anchoring edge of the lower plate 12 may be formed directly from the bottom surface of the extruded section 10 (as shown in detail in attached FIG. 3); in this case, the sleeve 13 is made up of two symmetrical pieces, placed by each side of the plate 12 and held in position inside the seat 14 by means of a tooth 23, formed on the lower portion of the sleeve 13, which is engaged by further tooth 24 protruding from the extruded section 10, in order to anchor the lower portion of the sleeve 13 during the adjustment of the inclination of the plate 12 carried by the rotation of the head 21.

From the description above result clear the features of the locking device and regulation of panels or slabs according to the present invention, as are clear the resulting advantages, both operational and functional. It is finally clear that many other variations may be made to the locking and regulation device in question, without departing from the principles of novelty inherent in the inventive idea, as is clear that in the practical implementation of the invention, the materials, shapes and dimensions of the details illustrated may be any according to requirements and they can be replaced with other equivalents. 

1. A locking and regulation device for preferably made of glass panels and slabs (12), comprises a U-shaped extruded profile (10), inferiorly fixable, via locking means (11), to a reference surface (15) and which houses, within said U central seat (14), at least one of said panels or slabs (12), wherein, within said central seat (14), between said at least one plate (12) and said extruded profile (10), is inserted at least a shaped sleeve (13), which almost completely fills said seat (14) in correspondence with a lower part of said seat (14) and which is tapered at the upper end of said seat (14), so as to form at least a tapered portion (13A, 13B) which is flanked by and in contact with said panel (12), characterized by the fact that, between said at least one tapered portion (13A, 13B) of said sleeve (13) and at least one inner wall of said extruded profile (10), is inserted at least one wedge (16), connected to a respective adjusting screw (17), arranged in a direction perpendicular to said reference surface (15) and passing through said wedge (16) in correspondence of said upper part of said seat (14) and coupled to said sleeve (13) at said lower part of said seat (14).
 2. Locking and regulation device according to claim 1, characterized in that said adjustment screw (17) connects said wedge (16) to a lower portion of said sleeve (13) by fixing means (18), said wedge (16) being spaced by said lower portion of said sleeve (13).
 3. Locking and regulation device according to claim 1, characterized in that at least an upper portion of said adjustment screw (17) is constrained to said wedge (16) by means of an abutment (19) which fits in a suitable seat or recess (20) of said sleeve (16).
 4. Locking and regulation device according to claim 1, characterized in that said adjustment screw (17) is provided with a head (21), accessible from the outside of said profile (10), to make an adjustment of inclination of said plate (12).
 5. Locking and regulation device according to claim 4, characterized in that said head (21) of the adjusting screw (17) is incorporated within said wedge (16).
 6. Locking and regulation device according to claim 1, characterized in that said sleeve (13) is U-shaped and houses centrally said panel or plate (12).
 7. Locking and regulation device according to claim 1, characterized in that said sleeve (13) and said wedge (16) are made of resilient and/or yielding material, while said extruded profile (10) is made in steel and/or aluminum.
 8. Locking and regulation device as to claim 1, characterized in that said adjustment causes a displacement in the vertical direction (K) of said wedge (16), whose slanted wall is thus forced to slide on a respective slanted wall of said at least one tapered portion (13A, 13B) of said sleeve (13).
 9. Locking and regulation device according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one plate (12) rests directly, at a lower end thereof, on said extruded profile (10) and said sleeve (13) is made up by two symmetrical pieces, placed on one side and the other of said plate (12) and maintained in position within said central seat (14) via a first tooth (23), formed on a lower portion of said sleeve (13), which engages on a second tooth (24) formed on said extruded profile (10), which can hold said lower portion of each sleeve (13) during said adjustment. 